Season 3 poster
34 episodes

Bonanza - Season 3

First aired Sep 24, 1961Season 3

Browse all 34 episodes in this season, including available images, air dates, runtimes, ratings and episode summaries from TMDB.

Episodes

The Smiler still

Episode 1

The Smiler

NR
Sep 24, 196149 min

A drunk is killed in a saloon brawl with Hoss, and though the man's brother insists there are no hard feelings, he is actually a silver-tongued devil bent on revenge.

Springtime still

Episode 2

Springtime

NR
Oct 1, 196149 min

A friend of Ben's (Mr. Milbank) arrives at the Ponderosa at a bad time...when the Cartwright boys are fighting in the mud. Mr. Milbank, who is injured by a flying log during the fight, gives an assignment to each of the three boys. Can they fulfill the assignments, or has Springtime gotten to them all?

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Episode 3

The Honor of Cochise

8.0
Oct 8, 196149 min1 votes

The Cartwrights and a bigoted army captain are pinned down by Cochise and his braves, who claim the officer poisoned 30 of their people.

The Lonely House still

Episode 4

The Lonely House

NR
Oct 15, 196149 min

Little Joe pays a visit to the widow Lee Bolden, and brings her a bank draft for her husband's investments with Ben. Actually, the investments were losing propositions. Ben just wanted to help out his friend. During his visit, a wounded man stumbles into the house, and Joe recognizes him as Trock, who had just robbed the local bank. Lee Bolden was a nurse to her husband physician, and removes the bullet from Trock. Joe soon learns that Lee is in love with Trock, and that is the only thing standing between him and an early grave.

The Burma Rarity still

Episode 5

The Burma Rarity

NR
Oct 22, 196149 min

In this comic episode involving a precious emerald and the sweet widow, Clemantine Hawkins who is attracted to Ben, turns the tables on a pair of land swindlers.

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Episode 6

Broken Ballad

NR
Oct 29, 196149 min

Adam tries to help a reformed gunman who wants only to live peacefully near Virginia City. Good story without a tidy ending. Pernell's first chance to sing on the series.

The Many Faces of Gideon Flinch still

Episode 7

The Many Faces of Gideon Flinch

NR
Nov 5, 196149 min

Hoss and Joe become involved when "Bullethead" Burke vows revenge on an old man he claims cheated him in an investment deal.

The Friendship still

Episode 8

The Friendship

NR
Nov 12, 196149 min

Joe befriends and takes responsibility for an ex-convict named Danny. Danny loves horses and is not used to people's ways on the outside of jail. Will his rough jailhouse upbringing mar any hopes of friendship?

The Countess still

Episode 9

The Countess

NR
Nov 19, 196149 min

A woman Ben once loved, Lady Chadwick, returns and attempts to trick him into marrying her by ruining his business. Ben says almost losing the Ponderosa will make him and his sons appreciate it more.

The Horse Breaker still

Episode 10

The Horse Breaker

NR
Nov 26, 196149 min

A professional wrangler working for the Cartwrights is paralyzed when thrown by a particularly mean bronco. The woman nursing him was once engaged to the late son of a neighboring rancher out to get Ben.

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Episode 11

Day of the Dragon

NR
Dec 3, 196149 min

Joe wins a card game and an unexpected prize...a young lady. She goes to the Ponderosa and serves them, not wanting to be set free. Meanwhile, an army is looking for her and the Cartwrights.

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Episode 12

The Frenchman

NR
Dec 10, 196149 min

An irritating man who boasts of being the reincarnation of French poet Francois Villion shows up causing trouble for the Cartwrights.

The Tin Badge still

Episode 13

The Tin Badge

NR
Dec 17, 196149 min

Joe accepts the job of temporary sheriff in the town of Rubicon, unaware he is being used to facilitate a scheme involving murder.

Gabrielle still

Episode 14

Gabrielle

NR
Dec 24, 196149 min

In this Christmas story, inspired by Johanna Spyri's "Heidi", Hoss and Joe come across a blind girl whose family has been killed in a wagon wreck, learning later that her grandfather is a bitter hermit who spent 21 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Land Grab still

Episode 15

Land Grab

NR
Dec 31, 196149 min

The Ponderosa is overrun with settlers bearing phony property deeds, and one of Ben's oldest friends is responsible.

The Tall Stranger still

Episode 16

The Tall Stranger

NR
Jan 7, 196249 min

Hoss plans to marry Margie, a pretty blonde, but Margie becomes fascinated with a tall, traveling stranger named Mark Connors. Margie marries Mark but soon finds it was far from a match made in heaven.

The Lady from Baltimore still

Episode 17

The Lady from Baltimore

NR
Jan 14, 196249 min

An overbearing friend of the family tries to force her daughter into marrying Joe, though she does not love him. The situation grows more complex when Adam stumbles onto the scheme.

The Ride still

Episode 18

The Ride

NR
Jan 21, 196249 min

Adam races against the clock to prove a man who was once his friend is guilty of robbery and murder and Adam is convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt he is guilty.

The Storm still

Episode 19

The Storm

NR
Jan 28, 196249 min

Joe plans to marry Laura White, daughter of a man Ben once sailed with, but she is fatally ill. Ben consoles him with words spoken years before, by the father of Adam's mother.

The Auld Sod still

Episode 20

The Auld Sod

NR
Feb 4, 196249 min

The Cartwrights pretend the Ponderosa belongs to the town lush, when his aging mother from Ireland arrives.

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Episode 21

Gift of Water

NR
Feb 11, 196249 min

The Cartwrights dig a well, build a rig and a windmill for a drought-stricken farm family.

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Episode 22

The Jackknife

NR
Feb 18, 196249 min

Adam gives a second chance to a family man he suspects is one of the rustlers who has been hitting the Ponderosa herds.

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Episode 23

The Guilty

NR
Feb 25, 196249 min

When Ben fails to prevent the death of a friend's son, Adam and Joe, concerned by their father's depression, attempt to prove there was nothing he could have done.

The Wooing of Abigail Jones still

Episode 24

The Wooing of Abigail Jones

NR
Mar 4, 196249 min

In order to keep peace on the ranch, Hoss and Joe try to help ranch hand, Hank Meyers woo the the plain-looking schoolteacher, Abigail Jones. When their first plan backfires, they convince Adam (who doesn't want to get involved) to help and this makes things worse because Abigail believes it is Adam who is wooing her and Hank Meyers believes Adam wants to steal her away.

The Lawmaker still

Episode 25

The Lawmaker

NR
Mar 11, 196249 min

Ben supports the appointment of Asa Moran as Virginia City's temporary sheriff, but Moran goes overboard with his authority, jailing Adam in the process and pistol-whipping a Ponderosa hand.

Look to the Stars still

Episode 26

Look to the Stars

NR
Mar 18, 196249 min

A young genius, Albert Michaelson, vies for a scholarship. Adam assists Albert in the boy's experiments. Albert only needs the school teacher's approval to be granted a scholarship-which will be very difficult to get considering Albert was expelled from school.

The Gamble still

Episode 27

The Gamble

NR
Apr 1, 196249 min

In the town of Alkali, the Cartwrights are jailed on false charges of robbery and murder, but Joe escapes and returns with an army of Ponderosa hands.

The Crucible still

Episode 28

The Crucible

NR
Apr 8, 196249 min

Adam is left to die in the desert after two thieves take $5,000 and his horse from him. Near death, he stumbles into an old prospector named Kane who offers to lend him a mule and supplies in exchange for three day's work at his mine. Kane, however, turns out to be a demented madman. He holds Adam prisoner and tortures him to prove his theory that anyone could be driven to kill, even a man as rational as Adam. This is Pernell Robert's favorite episode along with "The Wooing Of Abigail Jones".

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Episode 29

Inger, My Love

NR
Apr 15, 196249 min

Ben indulges in a nostalgic reverie about Hoss's deceased mother. Having worked his way west to Galesburg, IL., Ben is befriended by a girl named Inger, the fiancee of the tavern owner who gave him a job.

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Episode 30

Blessed Are They

NR
Apr 22, 196249 min

When two feuding families argue over the custody of two orphaned children, a reluctant Ben is called upon to straighten out the situation before real trouble erupts.

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Episode 31

The Dowry

NR
Apr 29, 196249 min

The Cartwrights get mixed up in the romance of a phony heiress and an equally phony land baron.

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Episode 32

The Long Night

NR
May 6, 196249 min

Ben, Joe and Adam travel to Bowleg to pay the yearly taxes on the Ponderosa. After the transaction is completed, Ben and Joe ride over the summit to join the cattle drive. Adam is on his way to Genoa and is carrying a $10,000 bank draft his father has given him. A prison guard rides into town and announces two hombres have broke out and escaped who are holdup men and killers. Elmer Trace and his partner Poindexter were assisted by a guard in escaping prison and they betray him on the trail. Trace takes his clothes, horse and firearms, leaving Poindexter with only a rifle and rides off. Meanwhile, the Sheriff of Bowleg organizes a posse immediately.

The Mountain Girl still

Episode 33

The Mountain Girl

NR
May 13, 196249 min

Joe promises a dying sheepman he will make sure the old man's granddaughter gets her rightful inheritance from a wealthy San Francisco family. This episode was filmed immediately after "Inger, My Love", which explains why Blocker's arm is still in a sling.

The Miracle Maker still

Episode 34

The Miracle Maker

NR
May 20, 196249 min

Hoss blames himself when a young woman is crippled in a wagon accident, and hopes a faith healer can help her walk again.